Tell me about Liberty of the Seas

[The Fun Researcher]

Freedom class (Liberty is Freedom Class) and Voyager class are still our favorite ship classes to date.

 

Liberty is not officially amped, but has been updated.  It doesn't have Playmakers sports bar, or all the bright new furniture and look on the pool deck, etc...

 

Having said that, it's a large beautiful ship.  The waterslides were the latest new addition and they are nice.  Be aware that the Solarium is not covered.  It is open air, so if the weather is cold, there is no indoor pool.

 

We prefer Labadee to Coco Cay.  Labadee is more of a classical tropical paradise, whereas Coco Cay feels like an amusement park.  I do like the food choices on Coco Cay though.  We love resting in the loungers at Columbus Cove on Labadee, with the ship in the background.

 

The things that we love about the Liberty are:

• Large Royal Promenade.   A wonderful central location on the ship that makes navigation super easy
• A wonderful "connection to the sea" with the deck 4 walking/lounging track, access to the front helipad(especially at night looking at the stars), and the wonderful pool deck
• Large beautiful main dining room
• Great Shows and entertainment
• Large ship with plenty of venues to keep you busy on even the longer voyages
• Pools are freshwater
• Beautiful indoor Viking crown lounge overlooking the pool area
• etc...

 

 

[buffet24]

36 minutes ago, CastAStone said:

Liberty is not small

4000 passenger capacity (similar to Freedom and Independence)... it's definitely not small by any means...

[OSUZorba]

4 hours ago, LuCruise said:

What kind of restrictions?  Does it shut down in bad weather/winds?  Curious too why they didn't include the Tidal Wave slide on other ships.

The weight requirements are much tighter than they originally were going to be. Can't remember the exact numbers right now, but a light parent my not be able to ride with lighter kid. Two bigger adults may not be able to ride together. Then it has to close in high winds (don't know the exact number, it was "windy" any time I saw it closed but other stuff was still open).

 

They also had to add some speed scrubbers at the beginning that I think tear up the rafts.

[OSUZorba]

OT:

 

@CastAStone are you the same CastAStone from DBC?

[Tree_skier]

5 hours ago, LuCruise said:

What kind of restrictions?  Does it shut down in bad weather/winds?  Curious to why they didn't include the Tidal Wave slide on other ships.

I'm not completely sure but they have weight restrictions and don't let anyone ride single. The story I heard was that there were a few injuries when they first rolled it out and had to make some modifications to it. I don't know what those modification were. 

[LuCruise]

3 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm not completely sure but they have weight restrictions and don't let anyone ride single. The story I heard was that there were a few injuries when they first rolled it out and had to make some modifications to it. I don't know what those modification were. 

Yikes.  That's a bit scary.  You would have thought that would have been well tested before actual passengers.

[OSUZorba]

18 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm not completely sure but they have weight restrictions and don't let anyone ride single. The story I heard was that there were a few injuries when they first rolled it out and had to make some modifications to it. I don't know what those modification were. 

 

13 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

Yikes.  That's a bit scary.  You would have thought that would have been well tested before actual passengers.

I've never heard of injuries. It was fully CLOSED for the first ~8 months out of dry dock while they worked modifications on it. They added speed scrubbers, pads, and extended the cover at the top. Plus tightened the weight and wind restrictions.

 

It opened a week or two before my first sailing on LB, and at the captain's corner the chief engineer talked a lot about it. That after initial testing in dry dock everyone saw the issues with it and refused to open it until it was made safe.

Edited November 15, 2022 by OSUZorba

[buffet24]

14 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

You would have thought that would have been well tested before actual passengers.

They did test with a bunch of lab mice....

[The Fun Researcher]

The Tidal Wave slide on Liberty of the Seas has a max per passenger weight of 250 pounds, and a combined raft weight of 450 pounds. Guests need to be at least 100 pounds and 52 inches tall to ride. The Perfect Storm water slides require guests to be 48 inches tall to ride.

 

*Credit Royalcaribbeanblog

 

 

[CastAStone]

1 hour ago, OSUZorba said:

OT:

 

@CastAStone are you the same CastAStone from DBC?

You found me!

[CastAStone]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

The Tidal Wave slide on Liberty of the Seas has a max per passenger weight of 250 pounds, and a combined raft weight of 450 pounds. Guests need to be at least 100 pounds and 52 inches tall to ride. The Perfect Storm water slides require guests to be 48 inches tall to ride.

 

*Credit Royalcaribbeanblog

 

 

Perfect Storm also has a max weight of 300lb.

[OSUZorba]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

The Tidal Wave slide on Liberty of the Seas has a max per passenger weight of 250 pounds, and a combined raft weight of 450 pounds. Guests need to be at least 100 pounds and 52 inches tall to ride. The Perfect Storm water slides require guests to be 48 inches tall to ride.

 

*Credit Royalcaribbeanblog

 

 

The 100# minimum is the really restrictive one, basically need to be a middle schooler or at least a very late elementary kid.

[OSUZorba]

54 minutes ago, CastAStone said:

You found me!

When Disney's earnings came out I was thinking I needed to figure out where you post now so I could get your insight.

[Kikkib]

Do you need to make reservations for shows?

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, Kikkib said:

Do you need to make reservations for shows?

No. First come,first served 

[RockHoundTX]

I have sailed on Liberty close to a dozen times. As others have said, it is definitely showing its age. Expect things in the room to not be perfect: stuck shower doors, non-working frig/cooler, TV that may or may not work, etc. The big screen over the pool has not worked since probably 2019. That being said, it is not a bad ship. I actually like the lay-out better than most of the bigger ships. It was supposed to have had a major re-fresh during Covid but that never happened (they just did the bare-minimum refresh required). 

 

The ship's staff can vary from fantastic to just "average" depending on what week you happen to sail. Liberty has always been a "trainer" ship for the bigger ships so get more brand new workers than some other classes. This was particularly evident pre-Covid (you could have HUGE differences in crew and "feeling" between B2B weeks). Post-Covid I am not sure it is as big a deal since every ship I have taken over the last 18 months has been understaffed. 

 

If it has the itenery that you want, go for it. It does not have all the flash, sparkle, and gimmicks of the bigger ships but that is not necessarily a bad thing.   

[pyrateslife4me84]

There is a rumor on Facebook of Liberty OTS receiving a dry dock in July 2023. Anyone heard more?

[jcc1025]

We have sailed Liberty four times out of Galveston and really like this ship and the size. The crew, staff and entertainment was great and we would sail her any time. We spent many nights in the Pub with the singer and cruisemates. Happy cruising and enjoy. 

[Ashland]

9 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

There is a rumor on Facebook of Liberty OTS receiving a dry dock in July 2023. Anyone heard more?

Interesting...We sail on her Oct 2023.

[Biker19]

14 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Anyone heard more?

Don't expect anything more than routine required work.

[Cherries Jubilee]

19 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

There is a rumor on Facebook of Liberty OTS receiving a dry dock in July 2023. Anyone heard more?.

 

10 hours ago, Ashland said:

Interesting...We sail on her Oct 2023.

She has cruises scheduled for pretty much all of July of 2023. They would have to cancel a lot of cruises.

[firefly333]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:43 PM, Kikkib said:

Do you need to make reservations for shows?

I had to make one for the 8 pm ice show in sept on liberty

[jptoz]

21 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

There is a rumor on Facebook of Liberty OTS receiving a dry dock in July 2023. Anyone heard more?

Im sailing on her 9nt in july. I doubt Rci would dry dock her in the busy summer months of the northeast. I hope she gets her dry dock, but I hope she gets dry docked before coming to Jersey.